April, 2008

March, 2008

October, 2007

Watch out for the crazies. The people painted as 'odd' or 'conspiracy nuts' or 'fringe' often turn out to be merely prescient. Whether it is someone like Galileo or my granny (she said those electric pylons 'are bad for you' and died before the media started to agree with her - see here and here).

Today's unwelcome voice comes from an oil industry insider, Mattew Simmons, who has recently dissented from the BP view of the problems in the Gulf of Mexico. he says that the real problem with the well lies in a hole spewing forth oil some distance away from the Deepwater Horizon site. As a result there is an enormous lake of oil at around 4-5000ft under the sea and the structure of the sea-floor might have been damaged. Consequences range from hurricane borne oil/chemical rain on the southern United States to methane explosions to a volcanic eruption triggering the New Madrid Fault to collapse (which some say has already started).

Simmons has been seriously rubbished by some of the industry experts on sites like TheOilDrum.com. But now the latest news from the ex-Admiral in charge is that there are hydro-carbons leaking some distance from the well! oops - watch out for that volcano!

Burqua ban. Much has been made of the recent approval by the French assembly to ban the burka. Problem is that the legislation does not mention the burka. The bill prohibits 'dissimulation du visage' - concealment of the face. This is just the kind of legislation you need to ensure that your cctv can get a clear view of people's faces. Remember how UK anti-terror legislation is used by local authorities to spy upon ordinary people.

Banksters. It is dawning on people tha banks are ruthless, thieving corporations, directed by remote, arrogant banksters. It turns out that, in the UK, they are charging some people 167% for their overdrafts. Their defense is that it is only short-term borrowing - in which case they should be paying us the same amount when they put our savings into some over-night investment.